Textbook Chapter 7

Reflections on Textbook Chapter Seven - Public Relations Management in Organisations

In this chapter, I learnt how public relations serve as a link between organisations and their environments. This chapter introduced the systems theory as a basis for my understanding in applying public relations into context. Developed from the study of biological systems, systems theory is established as a framework for organisations to adhere to in order to adapt to their environments. It is used to explain how the public relations officers are responsible in managing the organisations' relationships with its stakeholders, governments, customers, competitors, and the surrounding environment that make up its environment (Sainthouse, 2009).

I feel that it is important for an organisation to function according to the conditions set by its environment. This is because the environment helps to facilitate the operations of the organisation including the constant influx of revenue and profits as a basis of its survival. As Modaff, Delvine, and Butler (2008) states, organisations are highly encouraged to look at the bigger picture by taking into consideration its environment for it could provide the organisation with several more perspectives. I particularly like how the textbook mentioned that adjustment and adaptation is beneficial for organisations to improve on their relationships with the environment. This brings me to my next point on the importance of open systems.

As the name suggests, an organisation with an open system views the environment as important to their survival. This includes the need to listen to feedbacks from customers in order to improve on their operations. Seeking informations from the environment as a form of input helps to identify potential challenges that the organisation may face in future and minimize the damages. For example, if a company foresees the possibility of emerging number of competitors, and that its consumers are not entirely satisfied with their output, the company is able to salvage the situation on time by improvising on their operations before they lose their source of revenue. It is therefore important that organisations respond to the environmental changes and keep in track on what is happening around them. I feel that it is unhealthy for an organisation to adopt a closed system as its operations may create certain conflicts with its environment due to conflicting interests and this is detrimental to its reputation and survival in the industry.

References

Chia, J. and Synnott, G. (2009), An Introduction to Public Relations: From Theory to Practice,Public Relations Management in Organisations, Oxford University Press, Australia, New Zealand.

Sainthouse, P. (2009), The Role of PR Within the Organisation, viewed on 04 March 2011, from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-role-of-pr-within-the-organisation-a147383